Policy notification system and method for electronic vapor provision systems

ABSTRACT

A mobile communication device includes a wireless receiver adapted to receive a beacon signal from a wireless beacon, the beacon signal including a unique identifier and a common identifier indicating that the beacon is used for the transmission of vaping policies; a processor adapted to detect within the beacon signal the common identifier; a transmitter adapted to transmit the unique identifier to a remote server; and a receiver adapted to receive from the remote server indicator data indicative of the authenticity of the beacon signal.

PRIORITY CLAIM

The present application is a National Phase entry of PCT Application No.PCT/GB2016/052830, filed Sep. 14, 2016, which claims priority from GBPatent Application No. 1517091.3, filed Sep. 28, 2015, each of which ishereby fully incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a policy notification system andmethod for electronic vapor provision systems such as electronicnicotine delivery systems (e.g. e-cigarettes).

BACKGROUND

Electronic vapor provision systems, such as e-cigarettes and otheraerosol delivery systems, generally contain a reservoir of liquid whichis to be vaporized, typically nicotine (this is sometimes referred to asan “e-liquid”). When a user inhales on the device, an electrical (e.g.resistive) heater is activated to vaporize a small amount of liquid, ineffect producing an aerosol which is therefore inhaled by the user. Theliquid may comprise nicotine in a solvent, such as ethanol or water,together with glycerine or propylene glycol to aid aerosol formation,and may also include one or more additional flavors. The skilled personwill be aware of many different liquid formulations that may be used ine-cigarettes and other such devices.

The practice of inhaling vaporized liquid in this manner is commonlyknown as “vaping.”

An e-cigarette may have an interface to support external datacommunications. This interface may be used, for example, to load controlparameters and/or updated software onto the e-cigarette from an externalsource. Alternatively or additionally, the interface may be utilized todownload data from the e-cigarette to an external system. The downloadeddata may, for example, represent usage parameters of the e-cigarette,fault conditions, etc. As the skilled person will be aware, many otherforms of data can be exchanged between an e-cigarette and one or moreexternal systems (which may be another e-cigarette).

In some cases, the interface for an e-cigarette to perform communicationwith an external system is based on a wired connection, such as a USBlink using a micro, mini, or ordinary USB connection into thee-cigarette. The interface for an e-cigarette to perform communicationwith an external system may also be based on a wireless connection. Sucha wireless connection has certain advantages over a wired connection.For example, a user does not need any additional cabling to form such aconnection. In addition, the user has more flexibility in terms ofmovement, setting up a connection, and the range of pairing devices.

Note that many e-cigarettes already provide support for a USB interfacein order to allow the e-cigarette to be re-charged. Accordingly, theadditional use of such a wired interface to also provide datacommunications is relatively straightforward. However, the situation forproviding a wireless data connection is more complex.

Other previously proposed arrangements are disclosed in US 2014/254466,U.S. Pat. No. 8,555,344, US 2012/230193, WO 2014/195805, and US2015/101625.

SUMMARY

In one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an electronicvapor provision system.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a mobilecommunication device.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a beaconauthentication server.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a wirelessvaping policy beacon.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a methodof authenticating a wireless vaping policy beacon at a mobilecommunication device.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a methodof authenticating a wireless vaping policy beacon at a server.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a methodof implementing a wireless vaping policy at an electronic vaporprovision system.

Further respective aspects and features of the disclosure are defined inthe appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described by way ofexample with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic (exploded) diagram of an e-cigarette in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the main electrical/electroniccomponents of the e-cigarette of FIG. 1 in accordance with someembodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a simplified schematic diagram of the processor of thee-cigarette of FIG. 1 in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of wireless communications between thee-cigarette of FIG. 1 and a mobile communication device.

FIG. 5 is a schematic (exploded) diagram of the cartomizer of ane-cigarette in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a schematic (exploded) diagram of the vaporizer from thecartomizer of FIG. 5 in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a mobile communication device inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a policy notification system forelectronic vapor provision systems in accordance with some embodimentsof the disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a wireless vaping policy beacon inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a beacon authentication server inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a method of authenticating a wirelessvaping policy beacon at a mobile communication device in accordance withsome embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a method of authenticating a wirelessvaping policy beacon at a server in accordance with some embodiments ofthe disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A policy notification system and method for electronic vapor provisionsystems are disclosed. In the following description, a number ofspecific details are presented in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of certain example implementations of apparatus andmethods according to the present disclosure. It will be apparent,however, to a person skilled in the art that these specific details neednot be employed in all implementations. Conversely, specific detailsknown to the person skilled in the art are omitted for the purposes ofclarity where appropriate.

As described above, the present disclosure relates to an electronicvapor provision system, such as an e-cigarette. Throughout the followingdescription the term “e-cigarette” is used; however, this term may beused interchangeably with electronic vapor provision system, aerosoldelivery device, and other similar terminology.

FIG. 1 is a schematic (exploded) diagram of an e-cigarette 10 inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure (not to scale). Thee-cigarette comprises a body or control unit 20 and a cartomizer 30. Thecartomizer 30 includes a reservoir 38 of liquid, typically includingnicotine, a heater 36, and a mouthpiece 35. The e-cigarette 10 has alongitudinal or cylindrical axis which extends along the center-line ofthe e-cigarette 10 from the mouthpiece 35 at one end of the cartomizer30 to the opposing end of the control unit 20 (usually referred to asthe tip end). This longitudinal axis is indicated in FIG. 1 by thedashed line denoted LA.

The liquid reservoir 38 in the cartomizer 30 may hold the (e-)liquiddirectly in liquid form, or may utilize some absorbing structure, suchas a foam matrix or cotton material, etc., as a retainer for the liquid.The liquid is then fed from the reservoir 38 to be delivered to avaporizer comprising the heater 36. For example, liquid may flow viacapillary action from the reservoir 38 to the heater 36 via a wick (notshown in FIG. 1).

In other devices, the liquid may be provided in the form of plantmaterial or some other (ostensibly solid) plant derivative material. Inthis case the liquid can be considered as representing volatiles in thematerial which vaporize when the material is heated. Note that devicescontaining this type of material generally do not require a wick totransport the liquid to the heater, but rather provide a suitablearrangement of the heater in relation to the material to providesuitable heating.

The control unit 20 includes a re-chargeable cell or battery 54 toprovide power to the e-cigarette 10 (referred to hereinafter as abattery) and a printed circuit board (PCB) 28 and/or other electronicsfor generally controlling the e-cigarette 10.

The control unit 20 and the cartomizer 30 are detachable from oneanother, as shown in FIG. 1, but are joined together when the device 10is in use, for example, by a screw or bayonet fitting. The connectors onthe cartomizer 30 and the control unit 20 are indicated schematically inFIG. 1 as 31B and 21A respectively. This connection between the controlunit 20 and cartomizer 30 provides for mechanical and electricalconnectivity between the two.

When the control unit 20 is detached from the cartomizer 30, theelectrical connection 21A on the control unit 20 that is used to connectto the cartomizer 30 may also serve as a socket for connecting acharging device (not shown). The other end of this charging device canbe plugged into a USB socket to re-charge the battery 54 in the controlunit 20 of the e-cigarette 10. In other implementations, the e-cigarette10 may be provided (for example) with a cable for direct connectionbetween the electrical connection 21A and a USB socket.

The control unit 20 is provided with one or more holes for air inletadjacent to PCB 28. These holes connect to an air passage through thecontrol unit to an air passage provided through the connector 21A. Thisthen links to an air path through the cartomizer 30 to the mouthpiece35. Note that the heater 36 and the liquid reservoir 38 are configuredto provide an air channel between the connector 31B and the mouthpiece35. This air channel may flow through the centre of the cartomizer 30,with the liquid reservoir 38 confined to an annular region around thiscentral path. Alternatively (or additionally) the airflow channel maylie between the liquid reservoir 38 and an outer housing of thecartomizer 30.

When a user inhales through the mouthpiece 35, air is drawn into thecontrol unit 20 through the one or more air inlet holes. This airflow(or the associated change in pressure) is detected by a sensor, e.g. apressure sensor, which in turn activates the heater 36 to vaporize thenicotine liquid fed from the reservoir 38. The airflow passes from thecontrol unit 20 into the vaporizer, where the airflow combines with thenicotine vapor. This combination of airflow and nicotine vapor (ineffect, an aerosol) then passes through the cartomizer 30 and out of themouthpiece 35 to be inhaled by a user. The cartomizer 30 may be detachedfrom the control unit 20 and disposed of when the supply of nicotineliquid is exhausted (and then replaced with another cartomizer).

It will be appreciated that the e-cigarette 10 shown in FIG. 1 ispresented by way of example only, and many other implementations may beadopted. For example, in some implementations, the cartomizer 30 issplit into a cartridge containing the liquid reservoir 38 and a separatevaporizer portion containing the heater 36. In this configuration, thecartridge may be disposed of after the liquid in reservoir 38 has beenexhausted, but the separate vaporizer portion containing the heater 36is retained. Alternatively, an e-cigarette may be provided with acartomizer 30 as shown in FIG. 1, or else constructed as a one-piece(unitary) device, but the liquid reservoir 38 is in the form of a(user-)replaceable cartridge. Further possible variations are that theheater 36 may be located at the opposite end of the cartomizer 30 fromthat shown in FIG. 1, i.e. between the liquid reservoir 38 and themouthpiece 35, or else the heater 36 is located along a central axis LAof the cartomizer 30, and the liquid reservoir 38 is in the form of anannular structure which is radially outside the heater 35.

The skilled person will also be aware of a number of possible variationsfor the control unit 20. For example, airflow may enter the control unit20 at the tip end, i.e. the opposite end to connector 21A, in additionto or instead of the airflow adjacent to PCB 28. In this case theairflow would typically be drawn towards the cartomizer 30 along apassage between the battery 54 and the outer wall of the control unit20. Similarly, the control unit may comprise a PCB located on or nearthe tip end, e.g. between the battery and the tip end. Such a PCB may beprovided in addition to or instead of PCB 28.

Furthermore, an e-cigarette 10 may support charging at the tip end, orvia a socket elsewhere on the device, in addition to or in place ofcharging at the connection point between the cartomizer 30 and thecontrol unit 20. (It will be appreciated that some e-cigarettes areprovided as essentially integrated units, in which case a user is unableto disconnect the cartomizer from the control unit.) Other e-cigarettesmay also support wireless (induction) charging, in addition to (orinstead of) wired charging.

The above discussion of potential variations to the e-cigarette shown inFIG. 1 is by way of example. The skilled person will aware of furtherpotential variations (and combination of variations) for the e-cigarette10.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the main functional components of thee-cigarette 10 of FIG. 1 in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure. N.B. FIG. 2 is primarily concerned with electricalconnectivity and functionality—it is not intended to indicate thephysical sizing of the different components, nor details of theirphysical placement within the control unit 20 or cartomizer 30. Inaddition, it will be appreciated that at least some of the componentsshown in FIG. 2 located within the control unit 20 may be mounted on thecircuit board 28. Alternatively, one or more of such components mayinstead be accommodated in the control unit 20 to operate in conjunctionwith the circuit board 28, but not physically mounted on the circuitboard 28 itself. For example, these components may be located on one ormore additional circuit boards, or they may be separately located (suchas battery 54).

As shown in FIG. 2, the cartomizer 30 contains heater 310 which receivespower through connector 31B. The control unit 20 includes an electricalsocket or connector 21A for connecting to the corresponding connector31B of the cartomizer 30 (or potentially to a USB charging device). Thisthen provides electrical connectivity between the control unit 20 andthe cartomizer 30.

The control unit 20 further includes a sensor unit 61, which is locatedin or adjacent to the air path through the control unit 20 from the airinlet(s) to the air outlet (to the cartomizer 30 through the connector21A). The sensor unit 61 contains a pressure sensor 62 and temperaturesensor 63 (also in or adjacent to this air path). The control unit 20further includes a capacitor 220, a processor 50, a field effecttransistor (FET) switch 210, a battery 54, and input and output devices59, 58.

The operations of the processor 50 and other electronic components, suchas the pressure sensor 62, are generally controlled at least in part bysoftware programs running on the processor 50 (or other components).Such software programs may be stored in non-volatile memory, such asROM, which can be integrated into the processor 50 itself, or providedas a separate component. The processor 50 may access the ROM to load andexecute individual software programs as and when required. The processor50 also contains appropriate communications facilities, e.g. pins orpads (plus corresponding control software), for communicating asappropriate with other devices in the control unit 20, such as thepressure sensor 62.

The output device(s) 58 may provide visible, audio and/or haptic output.For example, the output device(s) 58 may include a speaker 58, avibrator, and/or one or more lights. The lights are typically providedin the form of one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs), which may bethe same or different colors (or multi-colored). In the case ofmulti-colored LEDs, different colors are obtained by switching differentcolored, e.g. red, green or blue, LEDs on, optionally at differentrelative brightnesses to give corresponding relative variations incolor. Where red, green and blue LEDs are provided together, a fullrange of colors is possible, whilst if only two out of the three red,green and blue LEDs are provided, only a respective sub-range of colorscan be obtained.

The output from the output device may be used to signal to the uservarious conditions or states within the e-cigarette 10, such as a lowbattery warning. Different output signals may be used for signalingdifferent states or conditions. For example, if the output device 58 isan audio speaker, different states or conditions may be represented bytones or beeps of different pitch and/or duration, and/or by providingmultiple such beeps or tones. Alternatively, if the output device 58includes one or more lights, different states or conditions may berepresented by using different colors, pulses of light or continuousillumination, different pulse durations, and so on. For example, oneindicator light might be utilized to show a low battery warning, whileanother indicator light might be used to indicate that the liquidreservoir 58 is nearly depleted. It will be appreciated that a givene-cigarette 10 may include output devices to support multiple differentoutput modes (audio, visual) etc.

The input device(s) 59 may be provided in various forms. For example, aninput device (or devices) 59 may be implemented as buttons on theoutside of the e-cigarette 10—e.g. as mechanical, electrical orcapacitive (touch) sensors. Some devices may support blowing into thee-cigarette 10 as an input mechanism (such blowing may be detected bypressure sensor 62, which would then be also acting as a form of inputdevice 59), and/or connecting/disconnecting the cartomizer 30 andcontrol unit 20 as another form of input mechanism. Again, it will beappreciated that a given e-cigarette 10 may include input devices 59 tosupport multiple different input modes.

As noted above, the e-cigarette 10 provides an air path from the airinlet through the e-cigarette 10, past the pressure sensor 62 and theheater 310 in the cartomizer 30 to the mouthpiece 35. Thus when a userinhales on the mouthpiece 35 of the e-cigarette 10, the processor 50detects such inhalation based on information from the pressure sensor62. In response to such a detection, the CPU supplies power from thebattery 54 to the heater 310, which thereby heats and vaporizes thenicotine from the liquid reservoir 38 for inhalation by the user.

In the particular implementation shown in FIG. 2, a FET 210 is connectedbetween the battery 54 and the connector 21A. This FET 210 acts as aswitch. The processor 50 is connected to the gate of the FET 210 tooperate the switch, thereby allowing the processor 50 to switch on andoff the flow of power from the battery 54 to heater 310 according to thestatus of the detected airflow. It will be appreciated that the heatercurrent can be relatively large, for example, in the range 1-5 amps, andhence the FET 210 should be implemented to support such current control(likewise for any other form of switch that might be used in place ofFET 210).

In order to provide more fine-grained control of the amount of powerflowing from the battery 54 to the heater 310, a pulse-width modulation(PWM) scheme may be adopted. A PWM scheme may be based on a repetitionperiod of say 1 ms. Within each such period, the switch 210 is turned onfor a proportion of the period, and turned off for the remainingproportion of the period. This is parameterized by a duty cycle, wherebya duty cycle of 0 indicates that the switch is off for all of eachperiod (i.e. in effect, permanently off), a duty cycle of 0.33 indicatesthat the switch is on for a third of each period, a duty cycle of 0.66indicates that the switch is on for two-thirds of each period, and aduty cycle of 1 indicates that the FET 210 is on for all of each period(i.e. in effect, permanently on). It will be appreciated that these areonly given as example settings for the duty cycle, and intermediatevalues can be used as appropriate.

The use of PWM provides an effective power to the heater which is givenby the nominal available power (based on the battery output voltage andthe heater resistance) multiplied by the duty cycle. The processor 50may, for example, utilize a duty cycle of 1 (i.e. full power) at thestart of an inhalation to initially raise the heater 310 to its desiredoperating temperature as quickly as possible. Once this desiredoperating temperature has been achieved, the processor 50 may thenreduce the duty cycle to some suitable value in order to supply theheater 310 with the desired operating power.

As shown in FIG. 2, the processor 50 includes a communications interface55 for wireless communications, in particular, support for Bluetooth®Low Energy (BLE) communications.

Optionally the heater 310 may be utilized as an antenna for use by thecommunications interface 55 for transmitting and receiving the wirelesscommunications. One motivation for this is that the control unit 20 mayhave a metal housing 202, whereas the cartomizer portion 30 may have aplastic housing 302 (reflecting the fact that the cartomizer 30 isdisposable, whereas the control unit 20 is retained and therefore maybenefit from being more durable). The metal housing 202 acts as a screenor barrier which can affect the operation of an antenna located withinthe control unit 20 itself. However, utilizing the heater 310 as theantenna for the wireless communications can help to avoid this metalscreening because of the plastic housing 320 of the cartomizer 30, butwithout adding additional components or complexity (or cost) to thecartomizer 30. Alternatively a separate antenna may be provided (notshown), or a portion of the metal housing 202 may be used.

If the heater 310 is used as an antenna then as shown in FIG. 2, theprocessor 50, more particularly the communications interface 55, may becoupled to the power line from the battery 54 to the heater 310 (viaconnector 31B) by a capacitor 220. This capacitive coupling occursdownstream of the switch 210, since the wireless communications mayoperate when the heater 310 is not powered for heating (as discussed inmore detail below). It will be appreciated that capacitor 220 helpsprevent the power supply from the battery 54 to the heater 310 beingdiverted back to the processor 50.

Note that the capacitive coupling may be implemented using a morecomplex LC (inductor-capacitor) network, which can also provideimpedance matching with the output of the communications interface 55.(As known to the person skilled in the art, this impedance matching canhelp support proper transfer of signals between the communicationsinterface 55 and the heater 310 acting as the antenna, rather thanhaving such signals reflected back along the connection.)

In some implementations, the processor 50 and communications interfaceare implemented using a Dialog DA14580 chip from Dialog SemiconductorPLC, based in Reading, United Kingdom. Further information (and a datasheet) for this chip is available at www.dialot-semiconductor.com.

FIG. 3 presents a high-level and simplified overview of this chip 50,including the communications interface 55 for supporting Bluetooth® LowEnergy. This interface 55 includes in particular a radio transceiver 520for performing signal modulation and demodulation, etc., link layerhardware 512, and an advanced encryption facility (128 bits) 511. Theoutput from the radio transceiver 520 is connected to the antenna (forexample, to the heater 310 acting as the antenna via capacitive coupling220 and connectors 21A and 31B).

The remainder of processor 50 includes a general processing core 530,RAM 531, ROM 532, a one-time programming (OTP) unit 533, a generalpurpose I/O system 560 (for communicating with other components on thePCB 28), a power management unit 540 and a bridge 570 for connecting twobuses. Software instructions stored in the ROM 532 and/or OTP unit 533may be loaded into RAM 531 (and/or into memory provided as part of core530) for execution by one or more processing units within core 530.These software instructions cause the processor 50 to implement variousfunctionality described herein, such as interfacing with the sensor unit61 and controlling the heater accordingly. Note that although the deviceshown in FIG. 3 acts as both a communications interface 55 and also as ageneral controller for the electronic vapor provision system 10, inother embodiments these two functions may be split between two or moredifferent devices (chips)—e.g. one chip may serve as the communicationsinterface 55, and another chip as the general controller for theelectronic vapor provision system 10.

In some implementations, the processor 50 may be configured to preventwireless communications when the heater 310 is being used for vaporizingliquid from reservoir 38. For example, wireless communications may besuspended, terminated or prevented from starting when switch 210 isswitched on. Conversely, if wireless communications are ongoing, thenactivation of the heater 310 may be prevented—e.g. by disregarding adetection of airflow from the sensor unit 61, and/or by not operatingswitch 210 to turn on power to the heater 310 while the wirelesscommunications are progressing.

One reason for preventing the simultaneous operation of heater 310 forboth heating and wireless communications in some implementations is tohelp avoid potential interference from the PWM control of the heater310. This PWM control has its own frequency (based on the repetitionfrequency of the pulses), albeit typically much lower than the frequencyused for the wireless communications, and the two could potentiallyinterfere with one another. In some situations, such interference maynot, in practice, cause any problems, and simultaneous operation ofheater 310 for both heating and wireless communications may be allowed(if so desired). This may be facilitated, for example, by techniquessuch as the appropriate selection of signal strengths and/or PWMfrequency, the provision of suitable filtering, etc. FIG. 4 is aschematic diagram showing Bluetooth® Low Energy communications betweenan e-cigarette 10 and an application (app) running on a smartphone 400or other suitable mobile communication device (tablet, laptop,smartwatch, etc). Such communications can be used for a wide range ofpurposes, for example, to upgrade firmware on the e-cigarette 10, toretrieve usage and/or diagnostic data from the e-cigarette 10, to resetor unlock the e-cigarette 10, to control settings on the e-cigarette,etc.

In general terms, when the e-cigarette 10 is switched on, such as byusing input device 59, or possibly by joining the cartomizer 30 to thecontrol unit 20, it starts to advertise for Bluetooth® Low Energycommunication. If this outgoing communication is received by smartphone400, then the smartphone 400 requests a connection to the e-cigarette10. The e-cigarette 10 may notify this request to a user via outputdevice 58, and wait for the user to accept or reject the request viainput device 59. Assuming the request is accepted, the e-cigarette 10 isable to communicate further with the smartphone 400. Note that thee-cigarette 10 may remember the identity of smartphone 400 and be ableto accept future connection requests automatically from that smartphone400. Once the connection has been established, the smartphone 400 andthe e-cigarette 10 operate in a client-server mode, with the smartphone400 operating as a client that initiates and sends requests to thee-cigarette 10 which therefore operates as a server (and responds to therequests as appropriate).

A Bluetooth® Low Energy link (also known as Bluetooth Smart®) implementsthe IEEE 802.15.1 standard, and operates at a frequency of 2.4-2.5 GHz,corresponding to a wavelength of about 12 cm, with data rates of up to 1Mbit/s. The set-up time for a connection is less than 6 ms, and theaverage power consumption can be very low—of the order 1 mW or less. ABluetooth® Low Energy link may extend up to some 50 m. However, for thesituation shown in FIG. 4, the e-cigarette 10 and the smartphone 400will typically belong to the same person, and will therefore be in muchcloser proximity to one another—e.g. 1 m. Further information aboutBluetooth® Low Energy can be found at www.bluetooth.com.

It will be appreciated that e-cigarette 10 may support othercommunications protocols for communication with smartphone 400 (or anyother appropriate device). Such other communications protocols may beinstead of, or in addition to, Bluetooth® Low Energy. Examples of suchother communications protocols include Bluetooth® (not the low energyvariant), see for example, www.bluetooth.com, near field communications(NFC), as per ISO 13157, and WiFi®. NFC communications operate at muchlower wavelengths than Bluetooth® (13.56 MHz) and generally have a muchshorter range—say <0.2 m. However, this short range is still compatiblewith most usage scenarios such as shown in FIG. 4. Meanwhile, low-powerWiFi® communications, such as IEEE802.11ah, IEEE802.11v, or similar, maybe employed between the e-cigarette 10 and a remote device. In eachcase, a suitable communications chipset may be included on PCB 28,either as part of the processor 50 or as a separate component. Theskilled person will be aware of other wireless communication protocolsthat may be employed in e-cigarette 10.

FIG. 5 is a schematic, exploded view of an example cartomizer 30 inaccordance with some embodiments. The cartomizer 30 has an outer plastichousing 302, a mouthpiece 35 (which may be formed as part of thehousing), a vaporizer 620, a hollow inner tube 612, and a connector 31Bfor attaching to a control unit 20. An airflow path through thecartomizer 30 starts with an air inlet through connector 31B, thenthrough the interior of vaporizer 620 and hollow tube 612, and finallyout through the mouthpiece 35. The cartomizer 30 retains liquid in anannular region between (i) the plastic housing 302, and (ii) thevaporizer 620 and the inner tube 612. The connector 31B is provided witha seal 635 to help maintain liquid in this region and to preventleakage.

FIG. 6 is a schematic, exploded view of the vaporizer 620 from theexample cartomizer 30 shown in FIG. 5. The vaporizer 620 has asubstantially cylindrical housing (cradle) formed from two components,627A, 627B, each having a substantially semi-circular cross-section.When assembled, the edges of the components 627A, 627B do not completelyabut one another (at least, not along their entire length), but rather aslight gap 625 remains (as indicated in FIG. 5). This gap allows liquidfrom the outer reservoir around the vaporizer 620 and tube 612 to enterinto the interior of the vaporizer 620. One of the components 627B ofthe vaporizer 620 is shown in FIG. 6 supporting a heater 310. There aretwo connectors 631A, 631B shown for supplying power (and a wirelesscommunication signal) to the heater 310. More particular, theseconnectors 631A, 631B link the heater 310 to connector 31B, and fromthere to the control unit 20. (Note that connector 631A is joined to pad632A at the far end of vaporizer 620 from connector 31B by an electricalconnection that passes under the heater 310 and which is not visible inFIG. 6.)

The heater 310 comprises a heating element formed from a sintered metalfiber material and is generally in the form of a sheet or porous,conducting material (such as steel). However, it will be appreciatedthat other porous conducting materials may be used. The overallresistance of the heating element in the example of FIG. 6 is around 1ohm. However, it will be appreciated that other resistances may beselected, for example having regard to the available battery voltage andthe desired temperature/power dissipation characteristics of the heatingelement. In this regard, the relevant characteristics may be selected inaccordance with the desired aerosol (vapor) generation properties forthe device depending on the source liquid of interest.

The main portion of the heating element is generally rectangular with alength (i.e. in a direction running between the connector 31B and thecontact 632A) of around 20 mm and a width of around 8 mm. The thicknessof the sheet comprising the heating element in this example is around0.15 mm. As can be seen in FIG. 6, the generally-rectangular mainportion of the heating element has slots 311 extending inwardly fromeach of the longer sides. These slots 311 engage pegs 312 provided byvaporizer housing component 627B, thereby helping to maintain theposition of the heating element in relation to the housing components627A, 627B.

The slots 311 extend inwardly by around 4.8 mm and have a width ofaround 0.6 mm. The slots 311 extending inwardly are separated from oneanother by around 5.4 mm on each side of the heating element, with theslots extending inwardly from the opposing sides being offset from oneanother by around half this spacing. A consequence of this arrangementof slots 311 is that current flow along the heating element is in effectforced to follow a meandering path, which results in a concentration ofcurrent and electrical power around the ends of the slots 311. Thedifferent current/power densities at different locations on the heatingelement mean there are areas of relatively high current density thatbecome hotter than areas of relatively low current density. This ineffect provides the heating element with a range of differenttemperatures and temperature gradients, which can be desirable in thecontext of aerosol provision systems. This is because differentcomponents of a source liquid may aerosolize/vaporize at differenttemperatures, and so providing a heating element with a range oftemperatures can help simultaneously aerosolize a range of differentcomponents in the source liquid.

The heater 310 shown in FIG. 6, having a substantially planar shapewhich is elongated in one direction, is well-suited to act as anantenna. In conjunction with the metal housing 202 of the control unit20, the heater 310 forms an approximate dipole configuration, whichtypically has a physical size of the same order of magnitude as thewavelength of Bluetooth® Low Energy communications—i.e. a size ofseveral centimeters (allowing for both the heater 310 and the metalhousing 202) against a wavelength of around 12 cm.

Although FIG. 6 illustrates one shape and configuration of the heater310 (heating element), the skilled person will be aware of various otherpossibilities. For example, the heater 310 may be provided as a coil orsome other configuration of resistive wire. Another possibility is thatthe heater 310 is configured as a pipe containing liquid to be vaporized(such as some form of tobacco product). In this case, the pipe may beused primarily to transport heat from a place of generation (e.g. by acoil or other heating element) to the liquid to be vaporized. In such acase, the pipe still acts as a heater 310 in respect of the liquid to beheated. Such configurations can again optionally be used as an antennato support wireless configurations.

As was noted previously herein, a suitable e-cigarette 10 cancommunicate with a mobile communication device 400, for example bypairing the devices using the Bluetooth® low energy protocol.

Consequently, it is possible to provide additional functionality to thee-cigarette 10 and/or to a system comprising the e-cigarette 10 and thesmartphone, by providing suitable software instructions (for example inthe form of an app) to run on the smartphone.

Turning now to FIG. 7, a typical smartphone 400 comprises a centralprocessing unit (CPU) (410). The CPU 410 may communicate with componentsof the smart phone 400 either through direct connections or via an I/Obridge 414 and/or a bus 430 as applicable.

In the example shown in FIG. 7, the CPU 410 communicates directly with amemory 412, which may comprise a persistent memory such as for exampleFlash® memory for storing an operating system and applications (apps),and volatile memory such as RAM for holding data currently in use by theCPU 410. Typically persistent and volatile memories are formed byphysically distinct units (not shown). In addition, the memory 412 mayseparately comprise plug-in memory such as a microSD card, and alsosubscriber information data on a subscriber information module (SIM)(not shown).

The smartphone may also comprise a graphics processing unit (GPU) 416.The GPU 416 may communicate directly with the CPU 410 or via the I/Obridge, or may be part of the CPU 410. The GPU 416 may share RAM withthe CPU 410 or may have its own dedicated RAM (not shown) and isconnected to the display 418 of the smartphone 400. The display istypically a liquid crystal (LCD) or organic light-emitting diode (OLED)display, but may be any suitable display technology, such as e-ink.Optionally the GPU 416 may also be used to drive one or moreloudspeakers 420 of the smartphone 400.

Alternatively, the speaker may be connected to the CPU 410 via the I/Obridge and the bus. Other components of the smartphone 400 may besimilarly connected via the bus, including a touch surface 432 such as acapacitive touch surface overlaid on the screen for the purposes ofproviding a touch input to the device, a microphone 434 for receivingspeech from the user, one or more cameras 436 for capturing images, aglobal positioning system (GPS) unit 438 for obtaining an estimate ofthe geographical position of the smartphone 400, and wirelesscommunication means 440.

The wireless communication means 440 may in turn comprise severalseparate wireless communication systems adhering to different standardsand/or protocols, such as Bluetooth® (standard or low-energy variants),near field communication and Wi-Fi® as described previously, and alsophone based communication such as 2G, 3G and/or 4G.

The systems are typically powered by a battery (not shown) that may bechargeable via a power input (not shown) that in turn may be part of adata link such as USB (not shown).

It will be appreciated that different smartphones 400 may includedifferent features (for example a compass or a buzzer) and may omit someof those listed above (for example a touch surface).

Thus more generally, in an embodiment of the present disclosure asuitable remote device such as smartphone 400 will comprise a CPU and amemory for storing and running an app, and wireless communication meansoperable to instigate and maintain wireless communication with thee-cigarette 10. It will be appreciated however that the remote devicemay be a device that has these capabilities, such as a tablet, laptop,smart TV or the like.

Referring now to FIG. 8, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, afirst system comprises an electronic cigarette 10 and a wireless beacon1000.

In this first system, the wireless beacon 1000 operates as a wirelessvaping policy beacon. The beacon 1000 may be used by a proprietor of anestablishment, for example a restaurant, to indicate that a specificvaping policy is requested within the establishment, as explained laterherein.

Referring now also to FIG. 9, the wireless vaping policy beacon 1000comprises a wireless transmitter 1002 (typically connected to a suitableaerial 1004) adapted to transmit a beacon signal comprising a uniqueidentifier (typically stored in a memory 1006). Notably the beaconsignal also comprises a common identifier indicating that the beacon isused for the transmission of vaping policies.

The common identifier may be separate to the unique identifier or may bepart of it (i.e. a subsequence thereof). The common identifier is asequence of one or more values that is agreed by convention, for exampleit may be defined in accordance with an operating standard establishedfor systems supporting operations in accordance with the principlesdescribed herein, to indicate that a beacon comprising this sequence isbeing used for the purpose of transmitting a vaping policy, and can thusbe treated as such by an e-cigarette 10.

Consequently, the beacons 1000 used for transmission of vaping policiesmay be conventional wireless transmitter beacons, but by including thecommon identifier in the beacon signal it becomes a wireless vapingpolicy beacon.

As a specific example, the wireless transmitter 1002 of the beacon 1000may be a Bluetooth® device, and the unique identifier may be a uniqueuser identifier (UUID) transmitted by the Bluetooth device operating inadvertisement mode. That is to say, the beacon 1000 may comprise aBluetooth® device (Bluetooth® beacon). It will be appreciated that theterm “Bluetooth® device” use herein may encompass any Bluetooth®standard including Bluetooth® low energy. In advertisement mode, theBluetooth® device acts as a beacon and typically transmits its MACaddress and a payload in the form of a UUID.

The UUID is typically a unique hexadecimal sequence (although any dataconvention may be used) loaded into the memory of the beacon. However,in an embodiment of the present disclosure, part of this sequence isarranged to comprise the common identifier that indicates that thebeacon is specifically a wireless vaping policy beacon.

Hence as a non-limiting example, a UUID for a beacon may be:

-   -   fb0b57a2-8228-44 cd-913a-94a122ba1201        wherein all wireless vaping policy beacons are arranged to        comprise (as a non-limiting example) the common identifier        sub-sequence:    -   ba120

It will be appreciated that the beacon is not limited to Bluetooth®, butmay use any suitable wireless technology capable of broadcasting anidentifier, such as Wi-Fi®. In this case, the service set identifier(SSID) is a broadcast identifier that can be user-modified to compriseadditional character sequences such as the common identifiersub-sequence above.

Clearly however, the protocol used in the beacon 1000 should becompatible with the receiving capabilities of the electronic cigarette10, or where there are several dominant receiving capabilities in thee-cigarette market, the beacon 1000 may employ multiple protocols toincrease compatibility. Hence in the case where the e-cigarette 10 usesBluetooth® low energy for communications, then the beacon 1000 will usea conforming standard.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the beacon signal alsocomprises a policy code that is a series of one or more valuesindicating one of a plurality of predefined policies. This policy codemay typically also be a sub-sequence of the unique identifier. In theabove non-limiting example, the final digit “1” immediately followingthe indicative sub sequence “ba120” may be this policy code, although itis not necessary for this digit or digits to be adjacent to theindicative sub sequence in this manner. Where the common identifier is aseparate sequence to the unique identifier, typically the policy codewill be associated with the common identifier. The policy code mayindicate one of a number of predetermined policies that the e-cigarette10 can adopt.

The policies may include firstly, setting a warning light on thee-cigarette 10, in order to alert the user to the fact that theproprietor of the establishment housing the beacon 1000 requests thatpatrons moderate their use of e-cigarettes 10 within the establishment.

Secondly, reducing the level of heating provided by the e-cigarette 10,to reduce the amount of vapor generated whilst in the establishment.

Thirdly, restricting a heating operation of the electronic vaporprovision system (e.g. stopping an on-going heater operation orpreventing a new heater operation), thereby preventing vaping within theestablishment.

Fourthly, restricting a heating operation of the electronic vaporprovision system for a predetermined period of time.

In the fourth case, the period of time may be relative and may be apre-set, such as for example the next half an hour, or may be specifiedby a separate value or values. Alternatively the period of time may beabsolute, such as “before 9 PM” and again the absolute time may bepre-set or specified by a separate value or values. To implement thisoptional policy, the e-cigarette should optionally comprise a clock ortimer.

The ability to prevent vaping, or indeed merely reduce vaping levels orwarn against vaping for a period of time after detecting the uniqueidentifier, may be of use in large establishments, where the beacon 1000may be provided near an entrance of the establishment but the user maysubsequently move out of range of the beacon 1000 but still be in theestablishment. Examples of such establishments would be undergroundtransit systems, sports stadiums, factories, department stores and thelike. Similarly, an establishment may have different policies atdifferent times, for example only requesting users refrain from vapingbefore a 9 pm watershed.

The beacon 1000 itself may be incorporated into a plug, thereby drawingpower from a mains supply, or may be battery-powered, allowing for moreflexibility of positioning. Using Bluetooth® low energy, a battery powerbeacon may typically last between 1 and 3 years. In an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, a battery-powered beacon 1000 is incorporated into asign 1100 providing visible notice to a user of the default vapingpolicy of the establishment. Of course, such a sign 1100 may also beprovided to accompany a mains powered beacon 1000.

Referring back to FIG. 2, in an embodiment of the present disclosure thee-cigarette 10 comprises a wireless receiver such as Bluetooth® lowenergy receiver 55 that receives the beacon signal from the wirelessbeacon 1000 comprising the unique identifier and the common identifierindicating that the beacon 1000 is used for the transmission of vapingpolicies. Processor 50 is then adapted (for example by suitable softwareinstruction) to detect within the beacon signal the common identifier(for example by detecting the common identifier sub-sequence within theunique identifier such as “ba120” in the example given above). Inresponse to detecting this common identifier, the processor 50 is alsoadapted to modify operation of the e-cigarette 10.

In a most basic system, the detection of the common identifier triggersa default modification to the operation of the e-cigarette 10, such assetting a warning light on the e-cigarette 10 to alert the user to thepresence of a vaping policy beacon 1000. For example, by default an LEDon the e-cigarette 10 may flash red. Alternatively, by default thee-cigarette 10 may prevent vaping by no longer energizing the heatingelement in response to inhalation by user. Optionally, the user mayoverride the default response of the e-cigarette 10, for example bypressing a button on the e-cigarette 10 to resume normal functionality.

Alternatively or in addition, where the beacon signal also comprises apolicy code, the e-cigarette processor 50 may be adapted to detect thisand implement an indicated policy, such as one of those listedpreviously herein.

Referring again to FIG. 8, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, asecond system comprises the electronic cigarette 10 the wireless beacon1000 and a mobile communication device 400. In a first scenario, themobile communication device (e.g. a smartphone) simply acts as anintermediary, receiving the beacon signal from the wireless vapingpolicy beacon 1000 and forwarding it to the e-cigarette 10 via its ownpre-established link. This may have the advantage of extending thebattery life of the e-cigarette 10 and/or the effective range of thebeacon, as the smartphone 400 may optionally detect Bluetooth® signalsat a higher gain than the e-cigarette 10. The e-cigarette 10 may or maynot independently detect beacons in parallel.

In a second scenario, the mobile communication device (e.g. undersuitable software instruction from an app) implements much of thefunctionality of the e-cigarette 10 described previously in relation todetection of the beacon 1000 and parsing the signal, and consequentlyissues suitable commands to the e-cigarette 10 to implement a policy.Hence in this case the reception and parsing of the beacon signal andthe selection of a policy are implemented by the mobile communicationdevice 400 instead of the e-cigarette 10, and the appropriate policycommands are first issued by the processor of the mobile communicationdevice 400 instead of that of the e-cigarette 10.

Hence referring back to FIG. 7, the mobile communication device 400comprises a wireless receiver 440 adapted to receive a beacon signalfrom a wireless beacon 1000, the beacon signal comprising a uniqueidentifier and a common identifier indicating that the beacon 1000 isused for the transmission of vaping policies, the mobile communicationdevice 400 also comprises a processor (CPU 410) adapted (for example bysuitable software instruction) to detect the common identifier withinthe beacon signal; and the processor is similarly adapted by softwareinstruction to modify operation of the communication device 400 inresponse to such detection.

The modifications may include:

-   -   i. displaying a warning message on a screen 418 of the mobile        communication device 400;    -   ii. causing the mobile communication device 400 to vibrate or        emit a sound;    -   iii. transmitting, via an established link (e.g. a paired        Bluetooth® low energy link) to the e-cigarette 10, a message        confirming the authenticity of the wireless vaping policy beacon        1000;    -   iv. transmitting, via an established link to the e-cigarette 10,        a command to set a warning indicator, such as a light, on the        electronic vapor provision system;    -   v. transmitting, via an established link to the e-cigarette 10,        a command to reduce the level of heating provided by the        electronic vapor provision system;    -   vi. transmitting, via an established link to the e-cigarette 10,        a command to restrict a heating operation of the electronic        vapor provision system; and    -   vii. transmitting, via an established link to the e-cigarette        10, a command to restrict a heating operation of the electronic        vapor provision system for a predetermined period of time.

The warning message in modification i. above may be a pre-set messageselected in response to a policy code, for example either requestingthat users refrain from vaping, or informing them that the establishmenthas a designated smoking/vaping area.

One or more of these modifications may form a default policy enacted bythe mobile communications device 400, or may be selected in response toa policy code within the beacon signal as described above.

It will be appreciated that an e-cigarette 10 and a paired mobilecommunication device 400 may both receive the beacon signal from thebeacon 1000. If an e-cigarette 10 implements a default policy inresponse to detecting the common identifier within the beacon signal, oris not capable of implementing a particular policy, then optionally themobile communication device 400 may override the e-cigarette 10 in orderto implement the specific indicated policy obtained from the beacon 1000(for example, if an e-cigarette 10 does not comprise a clock or timer,then the mobile communication device 400 may send appropriate commandsat appropriate times in response to a policy code specifying relative orabsolute times). Meanwhile if the e-cigarette 10 is capable of parsingand implementing specific indicated policies obtained from the beacon1000, then the mobile communication device 400 might not override thee-cigarette 10. The app on the mobile communication device 400 maydetermine the capabilities of the e-cigarette 10 during an initialregistration process.

Hence by using the first and/or second system described herein above,the proprietor of an establishment may discreetly alert the users ofe-cigarettes 10 to the preferred vaping policy of the establishment.

However, a supplementary issue may arise where unauthorized partiesobtain a beacon signal from a wireless vaping policy beacon 1000, andretransmit it from another device at another location in order to send avaping policy to e-cigarette users. For example, an unscrupulous thirdparty may develop an app enabling anyone to use their smartphone tobroadcast a “no vaping” policy beacon by replicating (spoofing) theobtained beacon signal.

In order to help mitigate this issue, then referring again to FIG. 8, inan embodiment of the present disclosure a third system comprises theelectronic cigarette 10, the wireless beacon 1000, the mobilecommunication device 400 and a beacon authentication server 1300.

In this third system, the mobile communication device 400 (for example,under the instruction of an app) seeks to authenticate the wirelessvaping policy beacon 1000 with the beacon authentication server 1300, byproviding a separate authentication factor (authentication data)relating to the wireless vaping policy beacon 1000. As will be discussedin more detail below, the separate authentication factor may be GPScoordinates obtained whilst the beacon signal from the wireless beacon1000 was received, a security certificate transmitted from the wirelessbeacon 1000 to the mobile communication device 400, or supplementaryidentification data extracted from a printed code such as a QR code on avisible sign posted in the establishment.

Consequently in this third system, the mobile communication deviceprocessor is adapted to obtain an authentication factor relating to thewireless vaping policy beacon 1000, and comprises a transmitter (e.g.WiFi® or mobile data over 3G, 4G etc.,) adapted to transmit the uniqueidentifier and the authentication factor to a remote server. The mobilecommunication device's receiver then receives from the remote serverindicator data indicating whether or not the wireless vaping policybeacon 1000 is authentic, before the processor modifies operation of themobile communication device 400 in response to the indication data.

Hence this third system operates in a similar manner to the secondsystem except that an app adapting the mobile communication device 400waits for authentication of the beacon 1000 before implementing a policyon the e-cigarette 10 or issuing any warnings to the user.

Turning now to FIG. 10, the beacon authentication server 1300 comprisesa receiver 1310 (such as an Ethernet® port) adapted to receive, from aremote mobile communication device 400 (via a network such as theinternet 1200), a unique identifier obtained from the beacon signal of awireless vaping policy beacon 1000, and an authentication factor. Theserver 1300 also comprises a processor 1320, adapted for example bysuitable software instructions, to evaluate the authentication factorbased upon authentication data associated with the unique identifier ina database 1335 held in a memory 1330. The server 1300 may thentransmit, for example via its Ethernet® port, to the remote mobilecommunication device 400, indicator data indicating whether or not thewireless vaping policy beacon 1000 is authentic, responsive to theevaluation of the authentication factor.

The indicator data may simply be a flag, and this may be part of a moreextensive data exchange between the mobile communication device 400 andthe server 1300.

Alternatively or in addition the indicator data may comprise vapingpolicy information, such as a message from the proprietor of theestablishment that can be displayed on the mobile communication devicedisplay 418.

As noted above, the authentication factor may take one of several forms.In one instance, the authentication factor comprises GPS coordinatesuploaded from the mobile communication device, in circumstances wherethe mobile communication device has a GPS capability and obtained GPScoordinates in response to detecting the common identifier in the beaconsignal from the wireless vaping policy beacon. In this case, the beaconauthentication server's processor is adapted to evaluate whether theuploaded GPS coordinates are within a threshold distance of a registeredset of GPS coordinates associated with the unique identifier in thedatabase 1335.

In this way, a proprietor of an establishment can register theirwireless vaping policy beacon 1000 with the server 1300, and duringregistration they can provide a reference set of GPS coordinatescorresponding to the location of their establishment and morespecifically the location of the beacon 1000 whose unique identifierbecomes associated with the reference GPS coordinates in the database1335 of the server 1300. This process may be performed with aregistration app run on a GPS-capable mobile communication device 400.

Subsequently, if a third party attempts to replicate the uniqueidentifier of that beacon 1000 in a different location, the GPScoordinates uploaded by the smartphone 400 will differ from thoseregistered in the database 1335 by an amount greater than apredetermined threshold (for example, a threshold radius/distance setduring registration). As a result, the server will transmit indicatordata indicating that the third party beacon is not authentic.

In a similar manner, in one instance the authentication factor is atrusted certificate transmitted by the beacon 1000 which has been issuedand signed by a trusted authority using their private key. In this case,the beacon authentication server's processor is adapted to evaluate(verify) the certificate by using the public key of the relevantcertificate authority to decrypt the certificate. The decryptedcertificate may comprise confirmatory information such as the uniqueidentifier of the wireless vaping policy beacon, and may also comprisean additional verification identifier held in association with theunique identifier in the database 1335 of the server 1300. If thecertificate cannot be properly decrypted or the decrypted contents donot correspond to the unique identifier and/or verification identifier,then the server 1300 will transmit indicator data indicating thatthird-party party beacon is not authentic.

In this way, a proprietor of an establishment can register theirwireless vaping policy beacon 1000 with the server 1300, and the server1300 or an associated trusted certificate authority can issue acertificate to the beacon 1000 or unlock transmission of a preloadedcertificate on the beacon 1000.

Again in a similar manner, in one instance the authentication factor issupplementary identification data extracted from a printed code such asa QR code on a visible sign 1100 posted in the establishment. As notedabove, such a sign may actually incorporate the wireless vaping policybeacon 1000, or may be displayed in physical proximity to the beacon.This printed code (e.g. a barcode, alphanumeric code, QR code orsimilar) may be captured using a camera of the mobile communicationdevice 400 and parsed to extract the supplementary identification data.Again the beacon authentication server 1300 may evaluate (compare) andconfirm whether the beacon unique identifier and the supplementaryidentification data uploaded by the mobile communication device 400correspond to the values stored in the database 1335. If they do notcorrespond, then the server 1300 will transmit indicator data indicatingthat third-party party beacon is not authentic.

In this way, a proprietor of an establishment can register theirwireless vaping policy beacon 1000 with the server 1300 and upload thesupplementary identification data extracted from the printed code ontheir associated notification sign. Subsequently third parties wouldneed to provide a high fidelity copy of the sign and persuade users totake a picture of it in order to impose a vaping policy on those users.However, this approach does also require active participation by usersto authenticate a legitimate wireless beacon 1000, by capturing andimage of the printer code, and hence is more burdensome than the use ofGPS coordinates or trusted certificates as mentioned above.

Finally, for any of the above authentication factors, the server 1300may optionally be arranged to detect if a particular unique identifieris being validated more than an expected threshold number of times,which may indicate that the beacon signal has been cloned and that theowner of the beacon 1000 should be issued with a new unique identifier,with the current unique identifier being delisted. Of course, for somehigh-volume and sporadically used venues (such as sports stadia), thissecondary check may be disabled.

Regardless of the authentication factor used, if the server 1300transmits indicator data indicating a third party beacon is notauthentic, then in response the mobile communication device 400 mayignore the beacon if it is acting to merely relay the beacon signal tothe e-cigarette 10, or if it is parsing the beacon signal andimplementing the policies on behalf of the e-cigarette 10. Alternativelyor in addition it may send a policy override command to the e-cigarette10 using its established link and optionally any prearrangedauthentication process between the e-cigarette 10 and the mobilecommunication device 400, so that the e-cigarette 10 no longerimplements any policy in response to its own detection of the commonidentifier in the beacon signal.

In this way, a user's mobile phone 400 (e.g. operating under theinstruction of an app) can prevent the unauthorized transmission ofvaping policies to an e-cigarette 10 by third parties.

Alternatively, the mobile communications device 400 may not obtain anauthentication factor and may not include such an authentication factorwhen transmitting the unique identifier to the server 1300. In thiscase, the server 1300 receives the unique identifier and returnsindicator data indicative of the authenticity of the beacon signal formanual authentication by the user. Hence the indicator data may forexample be the name of the establishment where the beacon 1000 isregistered, which may be displayed by the app on the mobilecommunication device's screen 418. The user may then determine whetheror the detected beacon 1000 is legitimate based on where they actuallyare. Optionally the user may then acknowledge or ignore the vapingpolicy, for example by tapping on an accept button or a deny buttonprovided on screen 418 by the app. If the user accepts the policy thenthe mobile communication device 400 will either communicate it to thee-cigarette 10 or allow the e-cigarette 10 to continue implementing thepolicy as applicable, whereas if the user denies the policy then themobile communication device 400 will either not communicated to thee-cigarette 10 or sending policy override command to the e-cigarette 10to discontinue implementing the policy as applicable.

Turning now to FIG. 11, a method of authenticating a wireless vapingpolicy beacon at a mobile communication device comprises:

At s111, receiving a beacon signal from a wireless beacon, the beaconsignal comprising a unique identifier and a common identifier indicatingthat the beacon is used for the transmission of vaping policies;

At s112, detecting the common identifier within the beacon signal;

At s113, extracting and transmitting the unique identifier to a remoteserver; and

At s114, receiving from the remote server indicator data indicative ofthe authenticity of the beacon signal.

It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that variations inthe above method corresponding to operation of the various embodimentsof the apparatus as described and claimed herein are considered withinthe scope of the present disclosure, including but not limited to:

-   -   Supplementary steps of        -   obtaining an authentication factor relating to the wireless            beacon;        -   transmitting the authentication factor to the remote server;            and        -   modifying operation of the communication device in response            to the indicator data;    -   and in which        -   the indicator data indicates whether or not the wireless            vaping policy beacon is authentic;    -   modifying operation of the communication device by one or more        selected from the list consisting of: displaying a warning        message on a screen of the mobile communication device; and        causing the mobile communication device to vibrate or emit a        sound;    -   modifying operation of the communication device by transmitting,        via an established link to an electronic vapor provision system,        one or more selected from the list consisting of a message        confirming the authenticity of the wireless vaping policy        beacon; a command to set a warning light on the electronic vapor        provision system; a command to reduce the level of heating        provided by the electronic vapor provision system; a command to        stop a heating operation of the electronic vapor provision        system; and a command to stop a heating operation of the        electronic vapor provision system for a predetermined period of        time; and    -   selecting an authentication factor from one or more of: GPS        coordinates obtained whilst the unique identifier from the        wireless beacon can be received; a trusted certificate        transmitted from the wireless beacon to the mobile communication        device; and supplementary identification data extracted from a        printed code.

Turning now to FIG. 12, a method of authenticating a wireless vapingpolicy beacon at a server, comprises:

At s121, receiving, from a remote mobile communication device, a uniqueidentifier obtained from a wireless vaping policy beacon and anauthentication factor;

At s122, evaluating the authentication factor based upon authenticationdata associated with the unique identifier in a database; and

At s123, transmitting to the remote mobile communication deviceindicator data indicating whether or not the wireless vaping policybeacon is authentic, responsive to the evaluation of the authenticationfactor.

Again it will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that variationsin the above method corresponding to operation of the variousembodiments of the apparatus as described and claimed herein areconsidered within the scope of the present disclosure, including but notlimited to:

-   -   If the authentication factor is a set of GPS coordinates,        evaluating whether the GPS coordinates are within a threshold        distance of a registered set of GPS coordinates associated with        the unique identifier in the database; and    -   If the authentication factor is a trusted certificate,        evaluating the certificate by using the public key of the        relevant certificate authority.

It will be appreciated that the above methods may be carried out onconventional hardware suitably adapted as applicable by softwareinstruction or by the inclusion or substitution of dedicated hardware.

Thus the required adaptation to existing parts of a conventionalequivalent device may be implemented in the form of a computer programproduct comprising processor implementable instructions stored on atangible non-transitory machine-readable medium such as a floppy disk,optical disk, hard disk, PROM, RAM, flash memory or any combination ofthese or other storage media, or realized in hardware as an ASIC(application specific integrated circuit) or an FPGA (field programmablegate array) or other configurable circuit suitable to use in adaptingthe conventional equivalent device.

Separately, such a computer program may be transmitted via data signalson a network such as an Ethernet, a wireless network, the Internet, orany combination of these of other networks.

In order to address various issues and advance the art, this disclosureshows by way of illustration various embodiments in which the claimedinvention(s) may be practiced. The advantages and features of thedisclosure are of a representative sample of embodiments only, and arenot exhaustive and/or exclusive. They are presented only to assist inunderstanding and to teach the claimed invention(s). It is to beunderstood that advantages, embodiments, examples, functions, features,structures, and/or other aspects of the disclosure are not to beconsidered limitations on the disclosure as defined by the claims orlimitations on equivalents to the claims, and that other embodiments maybe utilized and modifications may be made without departing from thescope of the claims. Various embodiments may suitably comprise, consistof, or consist essentially of, various combinations of the disclosedelements, components, features, parts, steps, means, etc other thanthose specifically described herein.

The disclosure may include other inventions not presently claimed, butwhich may be claimed in future.

Embodiments of the invention may comprise subject matter as disclosed inthe following clauses:

Clause 1. An electronic vapor provision system, comprising:

-   -   a wireless receiver adapted to receive a beacon signal from a        wireless beacon, the beacon signal comprising a common        identifier indicating that the beacon is used for the        transmission of vaping policies; and    -   a processor adapted to detect within the beacon signal the        common identifier, wherein    -   the processor is adapted to modify operation of the electronic        vapor provision system in response to detection of said common        identifier.

Clause 2. The electronic vapor provision system of clause 1, in which

-   -   the beacon signal comprises a policy code indicative of one of a        plurality of predefined policies; and    -   the processor is adapted to detect the policy code and modify        operation of the electronic vapor provision system responsive to        the detected policy code.

Clause 3. The electronic vapor provision system of clause 1 or clause 2,in which

-   -   the processor is adapted to modify operation of the electronic        vapor provision system by activating a warning indication on the        electronic vapor provision system.

Clause 4. The electronic vapor provision system of clause 3, wherein thewarning indication comprises a light.

Clause 5. The electronic vapor provision system of clause 1 or clause 2,in which

-   -   the processor is adapted to modify operation of the electronic        vapor provision system by modifying a level of heating that can        be provided by the electronic vapor provision system.

Clause 6. The electronic vapor provision system of clause 1 or clause 2,in which

-   -   the processor is adapted to modify operation of the electronic        vapor provision system by restricting a heating operation of the        electronic vapor provision system.

Clause 7. The electronic vapor provision system of clause 1 or clause2,in which

-   -   the processor is adapted to modify operation of the electronic        vapor provision system by restricting a heating operation of the        electronic vapor provision system for a predetermined period of        time.

Clause 8. The electronic vapor provision system of any one of thepreceding clauses, comprising:

-   -   a wireless receiver adapted to receive a policy override command        from a mobile communication device;    -   and wherein    -   the processor is adapted to discontinue a policy modifying        operation of the electronic vapor provision system upon receipt        of the policy override command.

1. A mobile communication device, comprising: a wireless receiveradapted to receive a beacon signal from a wireless beacon, the beaconsignal comprising a unique identifier and a common identifier indicatingthat the wireless beacon transmits vaping policies; a processor adaptedto detect within the beacon signal the common identifier; a transmitteradapted to transmit the unique identifier to a remote server; and areceiver adapted to receive from the remote server indicator dataindicative of an authenticity of the beacon signal.
 2. A mobilecommunication device according to claim 1, wherein: the processor isadapted to obtain an authentication factor relating to the wirelessbeacon; and the transmitter is adapted to transmit the unique identifierand the authentication factor to the remote server; the indicator dataindicates whether or not the wireless beacon is authentic; and theprocessor is adapted to modify operation of the mobile communicationdevice in response to the indicator data.
 3. The mobile communicationdevice of claim 2, wherein the authentication factor is one or moreselected from the group consisting of: i. GPS coordinates obtained whilethe unique identifier from the wireless beacon can be received by themobile communication device; ii. a certificate transmitted from thewireless beacon to the mobile communication device; and iii.supplementary identification data extracted from a printed code.
 4. Amobile communication device according to claim 1, wherein: the indicatordata comprises a registered location of the wireless beacon; and theprocessor is adapted to display the registered location on a display ofthe mobile communication device.
 5. The mobile communication device ofclaim 1, wherein: the processor is adapted to modify operation of themobile communication device by one or more selected from the groupconsisting of: i. displaying a warning message on a screen of the mobilecommunication device; ii. causing the mobile communication device tovibrate or emit a sound; iii. transmitting, via an established link toan electronic vapor provision system, a message confirming theauthenticity of the wireless beacon; iv. transmitting, via anestablished link to an electronic vapor provision system, a command toset a warning indicator on the electronic vapor provision system; v.transmitting, via an established link to an electronic vapor provisionsystem, a command to modify a level of heating provided by theelectronic vapor provision system; vi. transmitting, via an establishedlink to an electronic vapor provision system, a command to restrict aheating operation of the electronic vapor provision system; and vii.transmitting, via an established link to an electronic vapor provisionsystem, a command to restrict a heating operation of the electronicvapor provision system for a predetermined period of time.
 6. A beaconauthentication server, comprising: a receiver adapted to receive, from aremote mobile communication device, a unique identifier from a wirelessvaping policy beacon and an authentication factor; a processor adaptedto evaluate the authentication factor based upon authentication dataassociated with the unique identifier in a database of the server; and atransmitter adapted to transmit, to the remote mobile communicationdevice, indicator data indicating whether or not the wireless vapingpolicy beacon is authentic, responsive to the evaluation of theauthentication factor.
 7. The beacon authentication server of claim 6,wherein: the authentication factor comprises GPS coordinates, and theprocessor is adapted to evaluate whether the GPS coordinates are withina threshold distance of registered GPS coordinates associated with theunique identifier in the database.
 8. The beacon authentication serverof claim 6, wherein: the authentication factor is a certificate, and theprocessor is adapted to evaluate the certificate by using a public keyof a relevant certificate authority to access the certificate.
 9. Awireless vaping policy beacon, comprising: a wireless transmitteradapted to transmit a beacon signal, wherein the beacon signal comprisesa unique identifier, and the beacon signal comprises a common identifierindicating that the beacon transmits vaping policies.
 10. The vapingpolicy beacon of claim 9, wherein: the beacon signal comprises a policycode indicating one of a plurality of predefined policies.
 11. Thevaping policy beacon of claim 9, wherein the unique identifier is atleast part of one selected from the group consisting of: i. a uniqueuser identifier transmitted by a Bluetooth® device operating inadvertisement mode; and ii. a Wi-Fi® service set identifier.
 12. Amethod of authenticating a wireless vaping policy beacon at a mobilecommunication device, comprising: receiving a beacon signal from awireless beacon, the beacon signal comprising a unique identifier and acommon identifier indicating that the wireless beacon transmits vapingpolicies; detecting the common identifier within the beacon signal;transmitting the unique identifier to a remote server; and receivingfrom the remote server indicator data indicative of the authenticity ofthe beacon signal.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:obtaining an authentication factor relating to the wireless beacon; andmodifying operation of the communication device in response to theindicator data, wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting theunique identifier and the authentication factor to a remote server; andthe indicator data indicates whether or not the wireless beacon isauthentic.
 14. A method of authenticating a wireless vaping policybeacon at a server, comprising: receiving, from a remote mobilecommunication device, a unique identifier obtained from a wirelessvaping policy beacon and an authentication factor; evaluating theauthentication factor based upon authentication data associated with theunique identifier in a database; and transmitting to the remote mobilecommunication device indicator data indicating whether or not thewireless vaping policy beacon is authentic, responsive to the evaluationof the authentication factor.
 15. A method of implementing a vapingpolicy at an electronic vapor provision system, comprising: receiving atthe electronic vapor provision system a beacon signal from a wirelessbeacon, the beacon signal comprising a common identifier indicating thatthe wireless beacon transmits vaping policies; detecting within thereceived beacon signal the common identifier; and modifying operation ofthe electronic vapor provision system in response to detection of thecommon identifier.
 16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumstoring a computer program product which, when executed by a computer,causes the computer to implement the method of claim
 12. 17. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computerprogram product which, when executed by a computer, causes the computerto implement the method of claim
 14. 18. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium storing a computer program productwhich, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to implement themethod of claim 15.